Successful debut for RallySafe event management system

A thrilling high-speed battle between rising star Dane Skeete and Britain’s Rob Swann in a pair of Subaru Impreza WRC S12Bs launched the Barbados Rally Club (BRC) Driver’s & Class Championships in fine style yesterday (Sunday). Hundreds of spectators lined three special stage venues in the north of the island for the BRC Shakedown Stages to see Skeete soak up the pressure from the experienced Swann, fighting back through the field after losing time on the opening stage, and win by less than two seconds.

The 10-stage season-opener also marked the introduction of the RallySafe timing and event management system, which drew universal praise, both on the ground and on-line, as fans across the world used the RallySafe app to follow the action. Rally Club PRO Neil Barnard said: “Yesterday was a steep learning curve for all involved, but I have to say the marshals did a sterling job as they only had a single training session.” Swann added: “The rally was so well run, and the new RallySafe system is fantastic.”

Seeded at one, Swann and co-driver Darren Garrod – the Welshman celebrating his 40th birthday on Monday – hit trouble on the first 2.55-kilometre Josey Hill to Lamberts stage, when a boost pipe came off about three corners in, losing them 11 seconds to Skeete. Launch control failure on the start of stage two cost the British crew another 4secs to Skeete and co-driver Tyler Mayhew, before the fight-back started.

Swann says: “We’d fixed the problem, but were not overly confident it would last, but we won the next six stages and got the gap down to half-a-second with two stages to go. Then the launch stopped working completely! Not so bad in Four Hills, as it is a down-hill start and still managed to win the stage, but the Rock Hall start was up hill; we pushed hard, went a second quicker then the previous run but it wasn’t enough. Dane drove well, but I expected no less, as I have always viewed him as a talented driver. We need a reliable car, so that’s now the focus for Rally Barbados. Big thanks to Darren, who turns 40 today, and all our sponsors.”

Swann’s fight-back was helped on the first Four Hills stage after lunch, as Skeete explains: “I think if Rob didn't have the issues he had today, I wouldn't have ended up where I did, especially considering I had a slight off in the afternoon in Four Hills. I'm still green in the car and I haven't gotten heavy braking in the car right yet, so there is still a lot more learning to do.”

The two Subarus headed the time sheets on eight of the 10 stages, Justin Campbell impressively second quickest on the day’s first stage in his BMW M3, although he was to miss the middle of the day following some electrical issues, while Skeete’s Four Hills moment allowed Trinidad & Tobago’s David Coelho to clock the second-fastest time in his Ford Fiesta R5.

Brothers Roger and Barry Mayers finished first and second in 2wd and SuperModified 2, respectively third and seventh overall, both comfortable with the day’s work. Roger (Toyota Starlet) said: “We rectified our engine issues from last year and played around with some tyres during this event. The new tyres didn't give the confidence that was needed, as the car understeered quite a bit, and a swap to my last set of older-spec Hankooks brought an improvement of about 6 seconds in Four Hills.” Barry (Ford Fiesta) added: “We got more confident in the car as the morning progressed. We weren't 100 per cent there with Roger, but that was within my expectation and hopefully I have an answer for that in Rally Barbados.”

Mark Thompson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) and Roger Hill finished fourth and fifth, battling throughout for honours in the new Modified 4 class, Thompson prevailing by just under 4secs, having been faster of the two on the first four of the day’s stages, run in mixed weather conditions. He said: “We started out with a solid first few stages avoiding spins and lock ups in the slippery stages. The car, crew and co-driver were flawless. We have to fully run through the car again for Rally Barbados to make sure we have reliability, as we want to continue running in the top rankings as we did in this event.”

Alone in the FIA R5 class, finishing sixth overall, Coelho was also part of this battling group, which augurs well for Flow King of the Hill next month and Sol Rally Barbados over the first weekend of June, when an influx of four-wheel-drive cars from overseas is anticipated. Behind Barry Mayers, the top 10 was completed by SM1 and M3 winners Neil Corbin (Starlet) and Logan Watson (BMW M3) and Kurt Thompson (Honda Civic), who finished third in SM2.